Hawker drives ease rush at Hwh, Sdah stns

Kolkata: Thousands of commuters using Howrah and Sealdah stations experienced obstacles and hassle-free movement inside and outside the stations during peak hours on Monday, about 48 hours after anti-encroachment drives that saw removal of about 500 hawkers encroaching on public space with their wares for a long time.The drives were initiated on Friday night and carried on the next day at both the stations. Payloaders removed about 150 illegal stalls and evicted around 200 hawkers outside Howrah station, cleaning the stretch from the ferry ghat till the app cab stand and the bus terminus.At Sealdah, about 300 hawkers were evicted for convenience of commuters. Some commuters feel that administration needs to take action against encroachment and nuisance like spitting, littering and stench outside the station.With the road adjacent to Howrah station being cleared of encroachment, passengers faced no hurdles while heading towards the station or the app cab stand with baggage. Even cab drivers also did not have to get stuck because of the stalls and hawkers' wares occupying their passageway. While the demolition zone outside Howrah station was seen empty, some hawkers were found doing business on the road, about 100 metres away, where Howrah-bound buses terminate trips.Bandel resident Sandip Sarkar who works in a private firm in the city was surprised after walking out of the Howrah station around 11 am on Monday. "While rushing to catch train on Friday afternoon I had to dribble in a bid to manoeuvre the hawkers. Today the road was empty and I did not find any difficulty in moving to the taxi stand," he said.Alipore resident Jyoti Sinha, on a trip to Dhanbad, had a different experience after getting off her cab outside the station. "That the passageway to Howrah station is free of encroachment is something we were looking forward to for long," she said.Cab drivers called the drive a respite from congestion, which used to happen mostly due to unauthorised stalls dotting the road. "Many like me avoided coming to the station because of the traffic snarls," said Umesh Kumar Shah, a cab operator at the stand.At Sealdah, suburban commuters got back their access to the space on platforms. "While platforms have been cleared of encroachment, the road outside needs to be cleaned," said commuter Mallika Chakraborty.